MS World Discoverer was a German expedition cruise ship. It hit an uncharted reef in the Sandfly Passage 29. April 2000. The hole was too big to get it repaired on the spot, so all the guests were taken ashore. A few hours later the captain ran the ship full speed on ground in Rodrick bay. (via sv_manjana)

US Marines pose with their War Dogs - Bougainville, Solomon Islands 1943

Solomon Island Prehensile-tailed Skink (Corucia zebrata), family Scincidae, endemic to the Solomon Islands archipelago

Arboreal, herbivorous, crepuscular.

The largest known species of skink, they can grow to a total length of 32 inches (81 cm).

Live-bearing, they provide parental care for the young, after birth, as well. Females are known to be fiercely protective of the young.

They are actually social, and live in extended family groups.

This has been scientifically proven to be one of the best lizards, and I love them.

photograph by Josh More

MS World Discoverer Photog. SV Manjana

The MS World Discoverer hit an uncharted reef in the Sandfly Passage in 2000. The hole was too big to get it repaired on the spot, so all the guests were taken ashore. A few hours later the captain ran the ship full speed on ground to prevent it from sinking. 23 years later, it still sits abandoned in the Solomon Islands.

Solomon Islanders dancers, Solomon Islands, by Kike Calvo

A team of Zaira Rangers, a mammalogist with The University of Melbourne and a college professor with Solomon Islands National University have taken the first and only pictures of the rare Vangunu giant rat. In their project, reported in the journal Ecology and Evolution, the group set up camera traps with tips from locals and studied the images to identify the animals. For many years, locals living in the Solomon Islands have reported stories of large rats that climb trees and crack open coconuts with their teeth. Because the rats went unstudied by scientists, it was unknown whether the rats were a unique species or even if the stories were true. In 2017, a team of researchers from the Field Museum in Chicago ventured to the islands intent on discovering the truth. They managed to observe several of the rats and even managed to capture one and collect skin samples, which they took back to Chicago. The observations suggested that the rats likely weighed on average 1 kilogram and measured up to 45 centimeters in length—approximately three to four times the size of common brown or black rats. Upon performing a DNA analysis on the skin sample, the team found that the rat was indeed a previously unknown species—they named it Uromys vika.

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East Rennell, Solomon Islands: East Rennell is the southern portion of Rennell Island in the Solomon Islands which is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Rennell is the largest raised coral atoll in the world and the area in East Rennell surrounding Lake Tegano contains many endemic species. The island is covered with dense forest which provides habitat for the many bird species. Wikipedia

Blackbirding is the coercion of people through deception or kidnapping to work as slaves or poorly paid labourers in countries distant from their native land. The practice took place on a large scale with the taking of people indigenous to the numerous islands in the Pacific Ocean during the 19th and 20th centuries. These blackbirded people were called Kanakas or South Sea Islanders. They were taken from places such as Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Niue, Easter Island, the Gilbert Islands, Tuvalu, Fiji, and the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago amongst others.

Soldat américain – Bataille de Guadalcanal – Campagne des îles Salomon – Guerre du Pacifique – Guadalcanal – Iles Salomon – 26 janvier 1943

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Solomon Islands, 1968. Photo by Dominique Darbois

Two US Servicemen fire mortar shells in the Solomon Islands - exact date unknown CREDIT : Royston Leonard

Solomon Island Prehensile-tailed Skink (Corucia zebrata), family Scincidae, endemic to the Solomon Islands archipelago

Arboreal, herbivorous, crepuscular.

The largest known species of skink, they can grow to a total length of 32 inches (81 cm).

Live-bearing, they provide parental care for the young, after birth, as well. Females are known to be fiercely protective of the young.

They are actually social, and live in extended family groups.

This has been scientifically proven to be one of the best lizards, and I love them.

photograph via: www.aquariumofpacific.org

Adaro

"Goblin Shark ~ Day 10" © Candice Sciortino, accessed at deviantArt here

[This is another "If I Ran the Zoo" monster--the adaro appears in Pathfinder 1e's Bestiary 3. But it's kind of dull. There's nothing wrong with making a mershark, but the adaro has weird magical powers in the lore of the Solomon Islands that should get some due. This is an unusual folkloric monster in that I read about them first in a D&D book, namely the 3.0 3pp Penumbra Fantasy Bestiary. There, they were evil counterparts to tritons, which informed my take, but this isn't a straight up conversion.

Also, this art isn't explicitly an adaro, but I hear "horned shark", I think goblin shark]

Adaro CR 3 NE Medium outsider (native) This creature has a humanoid torso, but the tail and dorsal fins of a shark. Its hands are webbed with long, spindly fingers, and a long horn grows from its face above snaggletooth jaws. It carries a spear in its hands.

In the belief systems of some peoples, the soul isn’t a single entity, but instead is a composite entity. The higher and more civilized soul is what passes into the afterlife for judgement, but the lower animal soul remains behind and incarnates into a new form. The adaro is an example of these incarnations—the distillation of id and impulse, transformed into a shark-like aquatic form. Adaros are selfish and violent, and enjoy bloodshed and suffering for their own sake. One of the few arts they practice other than cruelty is music. Adaros are excellent singers, and may even teach these songs to mortals in order for them to spread farther. Otherwise, they are dangerous creatures best avoided or appeased rather than confronted.

Adaros travel in schools, working together to sink ships, steal catches and otherwise torment those that ply the waters. They can and do fight with their teeth and horns, but prefer to soften up enemies from a distance by magically conjured, venomous flying fish. After a barrage of these poisoned darts, the adaros leap to the fight, charging through the air and creating a rainbow in their wake. In waters where adaros are common, rainbows are seen as an ominous, not hopeful, sign.

Adaros are carnivorous and have long lifespans. They do age and die despite their relationship to soulstuff, and the quintessence remaining in them dissipates directly into the Astral Plane instead of going to an afterlife.

Adaro   CR 3 XP 800 NE Medium outsider (native, water) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +7 Defense AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+3 Dex, +2 natural) hp 30 (4d10+8) Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +4 DR 5/magic Offense Speed 5 ft., swim 50 ft. Melee masterwork spear +6 (1d8+1/x3), bite +3 (1d6), gore +3 (1d4) or bite +5 (1d6+1), gore +5 (1d4+1) Ranged flying fish dart +7 (1d6+1 plus poison) Special Attack rainbow leap Statistics Str 12, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 14 Base Atk +4; CMB +5; CMD 18 (cannot be tripped) Feats Blind-fight, Multiattack (B), Point Blank Shot Skills Acrobatics +10,Knowledge (nature) +8, Perception +11 (+15 hearing), Perform (sing) +9, Stealth +10, Survival +7, Swim +16; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception (+8 to hearing) Languages Aquan, Common Ecology Environment warm aquatic and coastal Organization solitary, pair, school (3-6) or frenzy (7-18) Treasure standard (masterwork spear, other treasure) Special Abilities Flying Fish Dart (Su) As a standard action, an adaro can create and throw a magical flying fish. This fish is treated as a thrown weapon with a range increment of 60 feet, and ignores all miss chances as if it was a seeking weapon. If it strikes a target, the creature takes 1d6 piercing damage and is exposed to the following poison: flying fish toxin—injury; Fort DC 14; duration 1/round for 4 rounds; effect 1d3 Con damage; cure 1 save. Regardless of whether it hits or misses, the flying fish turns into a mundane animal after being thrown once. The save DC is Charisma based. Rainbow Leap (Su) As a full round action three times per day, an adaro can move up to 10 times its swim speed by leaping through the air. It must begin its movement in a body of water. An adaro can use this ability in conjunction with a charge attack. When it uses this ability, a rainbow is created that passes through the spaces the adaro moved through. This rainbow lasts for one minute, and any character that moves through any of these spaces must succeed a DC 14 Fortitude save or be dazzled as long as they remain in the rainbow, and for 1 round thereafter. The save DC is Charisma based.  

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